Ty Abbott's defense a rare bright spot for ASU men's basketball

But here's Arizona State's Ty Abbott, saying with a straight face that he not only takes pride in his "D," he enjoys it. It's a tough sell, but the senior from Phoenix Desert Vista High is convincing.

"You get the challenge of trying to guard the best player and things get chippy and you start talking," Abbott said. "He'll hit a shot and then you want to come down and hit a shot and then you want to come back down and stop him. I like that little one-on-one type deal."

In a season of many lows, Abbott's defense is something to applaud. Entering Thursday's home game against Washington, he has 17 blocked shots, second-most on the team and not too shabby for a 6-foot-3 guard who plays on the perimeter of Herb Sendek's matchup zone.

"He's such a terrific athlete, (but) even more importantly, he's a great competitor," Sendek said. "There's guys that have the same athletic ability that would never have made some of the plays he made the other night against (Arizona.) Those plays were more of a function of his heart and his competitiveness and his desire to do well than they were his athleticism. In some cases, it's almost like the parent who lifts the car off their kid. (They do it) not because they're really strong, but because they really care. Ty really cares."

Abbott blocked two shots in Sunday's loss against Arizona. Both were 3-point attempts. The first came with 14:35 to go in the second half. Abbott was on the left elbow when Arizona swung the ball to 6-6 sophomore Kevin Parrom on the left wing. In a flash, Abbott rushed out and blocked the shot, and the Sun Devils went the other way in transition.

Two minutes later, Abbott provided help defense on Arizona star Derrick Williams in the lane when a skip pass sailed over his head to 6-7 junior Jesse Perry. Abbott turned and bolted about 20 feet, blocking the long shot from Perry, who had been wide open just a second earlier.

Abbott's 17 blocks break down this way: six have come on 3-point attempts, five on layups, four on mid-range or short jump shots and two on dunks.

"Timing," Abbott said of his perimeter rejections. "You kind of have to read their eyes."

For his career, Abbott has 56 blocks. To put that in perspective, former Oregon State star Gary Payton, known as one of the top perimeter defenders in conference history, had 63.

Lafayette Lever, one of the top perimeter defenders in ASU history, had 39.

And yet, Abbott rarely is mentioned as a candidate for the Pac-10's All-Defensive team, which makes no sense to Sendek. Blocked shots, the coach said, doesn't define Abbott as a defender. It's the whole package.

"He has one of the highest basketball IQs of anybody I've ever coached," Sendek said. "He knows not only his position, but everybody's position. . . . Over the course of his career he probably has not received the kind of conference-wide recognition as being one of the elite defensive players because sometimes I think too much is given to the guy who has the most steals."

When asked about the Pac-10 defensive team, Abbott shrugs. ASU plays a zone, he said. It's hard to single out one defensive player because of the help and rotations. Still, he's fairly sure of this: